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An online journal about visual art, the urban landscape and design. Mary Louise Schumacher, the Journal Sentinel's art and architecture critic, leads the discussion and a community of writers contribute to the dialogue.

A few pix from MAM After Dark

On Friday night, 25 first-year art students from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design collaborated with a talented slate of Milwaukee-based contemporary artists for a one-night only event at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

I was a little skeptical about this and wondered whether freshman were really ready to be tossed into the deep end, working on something to be shown in a major museum. Would that early experience at a major venue make success seem all too quick and easy? Would they be better off preparing in their freshman year for a sophmore show?

I am no expert in art education, certainly, but these are some of the questions I had.

I still do, really, but the array of work seemed truly collaborative, ambitious but not overly so and pretty interesting. One of the keys, I think is that the work was ephemeral, site-specific work designed for a one-night only show. That it worked reasonably well is a testament to MIAD

Here are a few quick snaps I took with my iPhone to give you a feel for the event.

These lovely little block-shaped lanterns were placed in the well near the garage entrance to the museum. The tiny figures, animals and graphic images seemed to be telling a story of sorts. The installation was by Kristina Rolander and Maureen McGinn.

This is an installation by Richard Taylor and Irene Sustar. (An earlier version of this post attributed this piece to the wrong collaborators. Sorry about that! And thanks Sonja Thomsen for the catch!) The graphic imagery was constantly altering, and passersby in this galleria space added additional elements -- their silhouettes. Very nice.

This is "36 Stratagems" a video projection with mirrors by Chelsea Shaw and Ray Chi. In it, what feel like crystal clear, windows reflect snippets of gallery activity, feet walking and hands gesturing, for instance, amid the larger videos of people's faces, framed tightly, so some part of the face was left out. The experience changes, depending on where you stand, and no one person had the same experience of it.

This is a detail from a grid of artworks by Allie Delaney and Emily Belknap. It is a series of continguous maps, drawn into a thin layer of salt on paper. The images will never do them justice. They were really quite lovely. Perhaps my personal favorite of the night.

This work, video projection and mixed media on a stop sign is by Kevin Schlei and Leticia Figueroa.

This glimmering object features one of Christopher Poehlman's signature forms, with reflective, crystal (glass?) drops suspended from the branch-like forms. The mirror-like backing, frames the piece, gives it a bit of drama and adds to the shimmering quality of the piece. Poehlman collaborated with Colleen Hardy.

Andrew Coyle partnered with Libby and Patrick Castro on a piece that brought MAM attendees' impressions of Milwaukee together in a single work. The artists would ask people to share their impressions of the city, and Andrew and Patrick would then interpret the terms, things such as "on its way up," "turning a corner," "industrial" or "contained" into drawn imagery on a temporary, brown monolith.

About Mary Louise Schumacher

Mary Louise Schumacher is the Journal Sentinel's art and architecture critic. She writes about culture, design, the urban landscape and Milwaukee's creative community. Art City is her award-winning cultural page and a community of more than 20 contributing writers and artists. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

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